BRIC Announces Winners Of $100K Art Prize

BRIC, Brooklyn's leading presenter of arts and cultural programming, is pleased to announce the recipients of the first Colene Brown Art Prize, which awards ten under-recognized New York-based visual artists with $10,000 unrestricted grants. The Colene Brown Art Prize is underwritten by artist and BRIC Board Member Deborah Brown in memory of her late mother, Colene Brown, and is funded through the Harold and Colene Brown Family Foundation.

"We are proud to announce the ten recipients of the inaugural Colene Brown Art Prize, which recognizes the extraordinary talents of these NY-based artists and their contribution to society through their artistic practice," said Kristina Newman Scott, BRIC President. "We are grateful to our visionary board member Deborah Brown for her generosity and deep understanding of the needs of artists working today."

"I am privileged to be on the board of BRIC and partner with this great institution to create and administer the Colene Brown Art Prize. With the awards, I hope to aid an outstanding group of artists in the pursuit of their dreams and at the same time recognize the role of not-for-profit cultural institutions like BRIC that make a transformational difference in their communities," states Deborah Brown.

2019 COLENE BROWN ART PRIZE RECIPIENTS*:
*Artist bios below.

Manuel Acevedo (born in Newark, NJ; based in the Bronx, NY)
Nicole Awai (born in Port of Spain, Trinidad; based in Brooklyn, NY)
Xenobia Bailey (born in Seattle, WA; based in New York, NY)
Nona Faustine (born and based in Brooklyn, NY)
Alicia Grullón (born in New York; based in the Bronx, NY)
Baseera Khan (born in Denton, TX; based in Brooklyn, NY)
Heidi Lau (born in Macau, China; based in New York, NY)
Christopher Myers (born in Queens, NY; based in Brooklyn)
Judith Simonian (born in Los Angeles, CA; based in New York, NY)
Kennedy Yanko (born in St. Louis, MO; based in Brooklyn, NY)

The recipients were selected from a pool of some 50 nominations which were made by a multidisciplinary cohort composed of ten New York City-based curators, critics, and artists. The nominators include Rocío Aranda-Alvarado, Program Officer, Creativity and Free Expression, Ford Foundation; Katherine Bradford, visual artist; Deborah Cullen, Executive Director, Bronx Museum of the Arts; Derek Fordjour, visual artist; Jennifer McGregor, Senior Director of Arts, Education, and Programs, Wave Hill; Sara Reisman, executive and artistic director, Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation; Eugenie Tsai, John and Barbara Vogelstein Senior Curator, Contemporary Art, Brooklyn Museum; Jacoba Urist, journalist; Nari Ward, visual artist; and one nominator who chose to remain anonymous. A selection committee within BRIC chose the final ten recipients of the award. Nominations were made based on each artist's exceptional merit and absence of substantial institutional support.

Established in 1981, BRIC's multi-faceted contemporary art program presents rigorously curated exhibitions and programs focusing on emerging and mid-career artists whose work captures a rich cross-section of ideas, voices, and artistic media that reflect Brooklyn's diversity. Adding to its already robust contemporary art offerings, which include residency programs, critically-acclaimed biennial exhibitions, an artist registry, and youth education initiatives, the Colene Brown Art Prize underscores BRIC's commitment to the artistic community of New York.

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